UW again ponders selling naming rights to Husky Stadium

Updated 10:00 pm, Thursday, October 18, 2007

Imagine watching Husky football at the newly renovated Dick's Deluxe Field or Top Pot Doughnuts Stadium. Wait -- make that Burgermaster Stadium.

Sure, it sounds crazy now, but as Husky Stadium continues to crack and crumble -- in urgent need of millions of dollars' worth of repairs -- the University of Washington Board of Regents is musing over a controversial fundraising tactic: selling the stadium's naming rights.

At this point, the idea is little more than a topic that keeps rearing its head at the board's monthly meetings, but it's also an idea that could go quite a ways toward helping the university raise the funds for a much-needed stadium facelift.

Inevitably, as regents discussed paying for the renovations at a Thursday meeting, the topic came up once again.

"I think we should go out and sell the stadium," Regent William Gates said, much to the chagrin of former Gov. Dan Evans, who is heading a 14- member stadium renovation committee.

Evans, a vocal proponent of keeping the stadium named for the team, suggesting instead that the UW sell each letter in Husky Stadium to generate millions in revenue. If they wanted to be ambitious, they could even add "University of Washington" to the official name, he joked.

He pointed out that auctioning off naming rights doesn't always work out for the best, referencing how the University of Louisville's teams play at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Regardless of what it is named, if problems at Husky Stadium continue to go unaddressed, the UW could be looking at $100 million in deferred maintenance in 10 years.

UW President Mark Emmert pointed out that naming the field inside the stadium is another option -- something that might be slightly less controversial than renaming the 87-year-old Seattle landmark.

At least, that's the route university officials took with Husky Stadium's closest neighbor -- Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The naming rights to the arena within the Pavilion were sold to Bank of America for 10 years -- an arrangement that cost the company just over $9 million.

As for Husky Stadium, it's not clear if that structure or any part of it will be christened in honor of a corporation anytime soon.

"A lot of people are very ambivalent about it," UW spokesman Norm Arkans said after the meeting. "It is a way to attract resources, but most people really like the fact that Husky Stadium is Husky Stadium.

"It sort of looms out there, but I wouldn't describe it as more than an idea."